Ten years ago Thursday, Dorian Handros was sprawled on his back in a ditch on the outskirts of Gainesville, submerged in muddy water with his Honda sport motorcycle blanketing his body.
Two racing cars forced him off the road, and Handros said without his riding experience and helmet, his injuries would have been worse than the broken arm he sustained.
"I consider myself very lucky," said Handros, who today sports a foot-long scar on his left arm as a permanent reminder of the subsequent surgery.
Handros, 43, sales manager for Gainesville Harley-Davidson & Buell, is fortunate according to recent analysis by Gannett News Service, which states that in the past 10 years the number of motorcycle fatalities nationwide has been increasing. Most deaths have been middle-aged riders.
Florida numbers are similar, as the number of motorcycle-related fatalities increased by 18 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to annual statistics reports from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Of the 521 fatalities in 2006, 174 were between the ages of 35 and 54.
In Alachua County, 10 people died on a motorcycle between 2002 and 2006, and only one was less than 25 years old, according to data compiled by Gannett.
Handros said the increases are mostly because more riders are on the road. In 2000, there were 255,210 registered motorcycles in Florida, according to the state motor vehicles department. That number more than doubled to 516,126 by 2005.
Handros said riders who give up the luxury of a motorcycle when they have children often get back on the road when their kids leave home, but they are overconfident in their unpracticed skills.
Florida law states that riders under 21 must take a safety course prior to receiving a license and must wear a helmet, but older riders just have to take a written test and can opt not to wear safety gear if they have the proper insurance.
Marc Pearl, 33, of Gainesville, said he learned to ride in his home state of Illinois, where there is no helmet law. He does not wear a helmet unless he is riding on the highway.
"You put a helmet on and you're going by the norm - what 'the man' thinks," said Pearl, who has never been in an accident. "Riding a bike is rebellious."
Handros has little empathy for those who follow that line of thinking.
"If they want to become part of what I call natural selection, go for it."
